You'll need a nut milk bag. I purchased my strainer bag from eBay for $8.99 with free postage. Make sure it is made from natural fibres. And wash it well before use. I rinsed mine out and boiled it in a saucepan of boiling water for 15 minutes. The amount of grime that came out of it was crazy! Then I hung it on the line to dry in fresh air to sterilise it.
After use, rinse and clean it with a natural soap and some warm water. Every few uses, soak it in vinegar to take out the stains and disinfect it, then boil it in a pan of boiling water and allow to air-dry.
The first step is to soak 1 cup of almonds (preferably organic) in a bowl (glass or ceramic - not plastic) of water, about 1 inch above the almonds, for 12 hours. I added 1 tsp of sea salt to the water to help neutralise the enzymes. Cover it with a clean cloth so the contents can still breathe. Ideally, it is a good idea to change the water and rinse the almonds every 3-4 hours, but usually it's easier to do the soaking process overnight. I changed mine after 9 hours when I got up the next morning, then soaked for another 3 hours afterwards. Rinse the nuts a few times through a strainer, as the water they are sitting in contains all the toxins that have been released from the nuts. If any float after this process, they are probably off, and it is best to dispose of these to be safe.
You can shell them if you like as it will make your milk less bitter. I chose not to. However, if you prefer, sit them in boiling water for 5 minutes, rinse and they should peel easily.
Soaking activates the nuts and makes them easier to digest. It also enhances the flavour. It will stop the heavy feeling in your stomach that you can get from eating nuts and drinking nut milk. It rehydrates them and plumps them up so they look so much more enticing!
INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup soaked almonds
* 2 cups of filtered water
DIRECTIONS
- Place the ingredients into a food processor and process until the almonds are fine crumbs (almond meal), about 3-5 minutes on HIGH.
- Pour the milk mixture into your nut bag, which is sitting over a bowl or jug, bit by bit. Wring out the bag to get all of the moisture from the nuts, then sit the almond meal aside, and repeat until all the milk is used.
- I repeated this process again with the almond meal and another 2 cups of water, blended it again slightly and strained. Then I mixed the two batches together and it still tasted great. It's more economic.
- It will last approximately 3 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze it.
-You can also opt to not strain the milk, and leave it rustic with the almond meal still in it, this will give you more calcium.
- Dry the almond meal in the oven 160°C for 15-20 mins until most of the moisture is gone. You can then use this in your baking/shakes etc where almond meal is used, so that it doesn't go to waste.
- TIP - you can add a mixture of dates, coconut, cacao powder, vanilla essence, blended strawberries, honey, salt etc to make this milk any flavour you desire.
MAKES 4 cups, if you re-use the mixture a second time like I did.
Homemade almond milk has live enzymes and no additives so it's gentler on the digestive system. Once you try this, I'm sure you'll agree that it is well worth the time and effort for such a pure, great tasting milk!
INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup soaked almonds
* 2 cups of filtered water
DIRECTIONS
- Place the ingredients into a food processor and process until the almonds are fine crumbs (almond meal), about 3-5 minutes on HIGH.
- Pour the milk mixture into your nut bag, which is sitting over a bowl or jug, bit by bit. Wring out the bag to get all of the moisture from the nuts, then sit the almond meal aside, and repeat until all the milk is used.
- I repeated this process again with the almond meal and another 2 cups of water, blended it again slightly and strained. Then I mixed the two batches together and it still tasted great. It's more economic.
- It will last approximately 3 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze it.
-You can also opt to not strain the milk, and leave it rustic with the almond meal still in it, this will give you more calcium.
- Dry the almond meal in the oven 160°C for 15-20 mins until most of the moisture is gone. You can then use this in your baking/shakes etc where almond meal is used, so that it doesn't go to waste.
- TIP - you can add a mixture of dates, coconut, cacao powder, vanilla essence, blended strawberries, honey, salt etc to make this milk any flavour you desire.
MAKES 4 cups, if you re-use the mixture a second time like I did.
Homemade almond milk has live enzymes and no additives so it's gentler on the digestive system. Once you try this, I'm sure you'll agree that it is well worth the time and effort for such a pure, great tasting milk!
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